How to fall correctly?

[sergei Scotland]

In many sports - like skiing - instructor would teach you how to fall safely before you can actually ski.
Have not had anyone explaining this to me in relation to kitesurfing.

Question:
What is safest way to fall in kitesurfing?

I just mean riding along - lost balance/wave/gust/floating obstruction - boom...
From beginner's point of view mostly - not talking jumps here.

I fell may be 300 times so far and only had 1 bad one (board pulled hard on the legs, back got over stretched - had back pain for months)...
How do I avoid this kind of scenario for example (and other bad cases I probably haven't experienced so far too)..
As I improve I will be probably going faster etc ... There are jumps too.

I guess main thing is not to loop your kite at full power when you fall

[grigorib]

My general guidance is following
- don't let one foot in a strap while falling. Both or none.
- kick the board off your feet if going down fast from high and have no kite support
- power up to fall further downwind from a foil
- ride foil with hooks or strapless
- don't use board leash
- don't use boots
- wear impact/floatation vest
- wear a helmet maybe

I guess majority of mine are related to feet injuries

[or6]

Two hands in the middle of the bar, kite depowered somewhat. Focus on keeping your kite in the air. This helps keeping your orientation. This also helps not extending one of your arms towards the water, a natural though silly reaction. It opens up your ribs on one side for some unnecessary impact...

If you have time, make your body small.

Having two hands on the bar also lowers the risk of pulling an unwanted kiteloop, often resulting in a second, maybe bigger crash.

All part of the deal .

[JakeFarley]

The main thing is to sheet out on the bar or let go of it completely to depower the kite so that you don't get dragged.

[rynhardt]

If you _do_ ride with boots, an impact vest is recommended as your ribs take a pounding when you do a body-slam.
I used to wear a helmet but not anymore because it looks uncool. No the real reason I don't wear a helmet while kiting anymore is I don't go that fast and I think the cons outweigh the pros.
Lastly, if possible I generally try to steer the kite up which buys me a few more seconds after the fall to keep the kite in the air, which makes getting back on the board easier.

[Kamikuza]

Keep your mouth closed

[Beardytello]

I find trying not to get pulled over the front of the board is handy, I broke a fibia in a crash where the key elements were pulled over the front, one foot in strap and an accidental kiteloop. I tend to mainly crash jumping now and my "technique" is either ditch the board if high and scared, or land with board in front of me and feet / ass first.

[knotwindy]

As a mostly beginner

Keep your mouth closed

The main thing is to sheet out on the bar or let go of it completely to depower the kite so that you don't get dragged.

These two and relax, if it’s to late to do anything & it’s going to happen, let it. Don’t fight it and tighten up.

[Toby]

I did a trick DVD and also had a section called "how to crash" where I explain what to look out for when doing jumps and you are about to crash.

Import is that you crazy with the board at an angle to the water, so it slips away and you won't impact hard on the knees...so do always lift your legs.
Basically you crash a bit on the board and immediately after on the butt...

more info about the DVD here www.airstyle.tv
Has several sections of how tos...plus all the tricks.

[dice]

In my case it's all about 2 priorities.
Do I want to keep my board on my feet at all costs, to avoid the hassle of bodydragging?
Do I want to keep the kite in the air at all costs, to avoid the hassle of restarting the kite from water?

The first one really depends, if the waves are very high I might lose my sight on the board very quickly and keep on bodydragging for a long while.
In that case I try to avoid losing my board, at the possible expense of getting hurt.

The second one, I'll always try to keep the kite in the air. But I'm not a beginner anymore, so the changes of the kite looping while I crash are very slim nowadays.